As business oriented person, I am always looking at the trade aspects of mutual relations of the Czech Republic. In this regard, Azerbaijan belongs among Czech trade partners with enormous potential. The annual turnover of 1.7 billion USD made Azerbaijan the country of high export interest of the Czech Republic, which was also declared in the Czech Export Strategy. Many bilateral projects have been already undertaken and I believe many more are right now in the pipeline.
Last statements of the Minister of Foreign Affair of the Czech Republic, Karel Schwarzenberg, both about perceived democracy deficiencies in Azerbaijan, as well as our recent history, especially tragic events of Khojaly, caused perplexity and uproar of the public and leadership of Azerbaijan. Your opinion in this respect?
I am aware of the latest statements of Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, which according to my opinion had been inappropriate to the situation. Nevertheless, I believe it will not have any harmful impact on Czech-Azerbaijan relations which would be highly unfortunate. Both countries invested a lot into that relation since opening of the embassies in our capitals. Azerbaijan is the strategic ally much needed in this volatile part of the world. Simply, Azerbaijan will have to be one of the topics to be discussed during my talks with the Foreign Minister in the near future.
How do you see the perspectives of the Czech-Azerbaijan relations?
As very bright ones. Azerbaijan has been currently the high performing economy. I am confident we can work with our bilateral relations as well as with the European agenda, particularly Eastern Partnership, with the mutually beneficial results. The frequency of mutual high level visits has increased since 2008 with a highlight of the President Ilham Aliyev visit in Prague last year. I would like to build upon these grounds and deepen our cooperation in manufacturing industry, infrastructure, medical equipment or defence industry.
Since the Azerbaijan Embassy in Prague started working in 2010, Czech-Azerbaijan trade increased from around 200 million CZK to the much respectable figure of 35 billion CZK just the last year. This is the trend I want to support.
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